The Relationships among Topographically-driven Habitats, Dominant Species and Vertical Layers in Temperate Forest in China

Abstract

The relationships among topography, topographically-driven habitats, dominant species and vertical layers in forest ecosystem are often complicate. In this study, based on the five 1 ha forest dynamics plots in China, we examined these relationships in different communities of temperate forest in China through structural equation model and torus-translation test. Our results showed that (1) the dominant species is an important factor that affects the forest vertical layers; (2) interspecific competition is prevalent between dominant species and canopy layer; (3) the species in each vertical layer have varying topographical habitat preferences. These findings shed new light to the species coexistence among forest vertical layers in temperate forest.